New Musical Express, July 9, 1983: Difference between revisions
From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
(update image link) |
(formatting +link Ian Wright +tags) |
||
Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
---- | ---- | ||
{{Bibliography text}} | {{Bibliography text}} | ||
And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, a story entitled "From One ''Great Artist'' To Another" or "Bisexuals to Bi-Focals" | And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, a story entitled "From One ''Great Artist'' To Another" or "Bisexuals to Bi-Focals." | ||
It may seem a bit obvious nowadays to compare anyone with the great yawn-too-late sensation of the moment, but it's difficult to resist the temptation of setting | It may seem a bit obvious nowadays to compare anyone with the great yawn-too-late sensation of the moment, but it's difficult to resist the temptation of setting Bowie and Costello, the acts this week heading back to base in the name of charity, against one another. | ||
At the risk of sending Sylvian and the rest of the clone squad off in a pillow-gnashing tantrum, it looks blindingly clear that if there is an '80s equivalent of Bowie, it is, artistically, Costello. Apart from demonstrating an ability to produce a vast body of frighteningly wonderful songs, Elvis has played the smart guy with a series of images (in his case more musical than facial) — also, like Bowie, he's taken more than a couple of lessons from early | At the risk of sending Sylvian and the rest of the clone squad off in a pillow-gnashing tantrum, it looks blindingly clear that if there is an '80s equivalent of Bowie, it is, artistically, Costello. Apart from demonstrating an ability to produce a vast body of frighteningly wonderful songs, Elvis has played the smart guy with a series of images (in his case more musical than facial) — also, like Bowie, he's taken more than a couple of lessons from early Dylan. Somewhere in this apostolic succession, though, there's been a radical shift. | ||
Bowie on the stage of Hammersmith Odeon is slumming it, standing on the lowest rung of his natural league, which has always been the big one. Costello, on the other hand, has always flirted more with failure. From the rusty edged psychotic bank clerk of ''My Aim Is True'' to the sad-eyed social commentator of " | Bowie on the stage of Hammersmith Odeon is slumming it, standing on the lowest rung of his natural league, which has always been the big one. Costello, on the other hand, has always flirted more with failure. From the rusty edged psychotic bank clerk of ''My Aim Is True'' to the sad-eyed social commentator of "Shipbuilding" and "Pills And Soap," Costello has consistently placed himself on the receiving end of bad luck. | ||
There's always been a great wave of blues splashing across his rhythm, the beautiful music of the reluctantly ugly loser. So while others bathe in stardust, it's a sad fact that Costello will stay soaked in sweat — which brings us to Dingwalls. | There's always been a great wave of blues splashing across his rhythm, the beautiful music of the reluctantly ugly loser. So while others bathe in stardust, it's a sad fact that Costello will stay soaked in sweat — which brings us to Dingwalls. | ||
Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
If you wanted to stomp along, it was heaven; if you wanted to listen (and not many did) it showed just how much the songs have changed since the days when he played this for real. He's no longer frightening because he's no longer broken up and threatening to break out — he used to sound like the man who'd been a nobody for too long and was beginning to get dangerous, now he's just a town crier, beginning to get tearful. | If you wanted to stomp along, it was heaven; if you wanted to listen (and not many did) it showed just how much the songs have changed since the days when he played this for real. He's no longer frightening because he's no longer broken up and threatening to break out — he used to sound like the man who'd been a nobody for too long and was beginning to get dangerous, now he's just a town crier, beginning to get tearful. | ||
So he sweated his way through the set, ''forcing'' the energy into it, slipping in " | So he sweated his way through the set, ''forcing'' the energy into it, slipping in "Back Stabbers" and even tacking "Stand Down Margaret" to the back of "Big Sister's Clothes," but failing to disguise the fact that the newer songs are sinking even deeper into the realms of melancholy. "The World And His Wife" may have been skipped through with a falsely cheerful note but the tone of blue is too deep to obscure. | ||
He played " | He played "Oliver's Army." The crowd went mad and then that was it. Elvis slunk off to drip quietly in the dressing room and I squelched off into the night. | ||
{{cx}} | |||
{{tags}}[[Dingwalls]] {{-}} [[London]] {{-}} [[ The Attractions]] {{-}} [[The TKO Horns]] {{-}} [[David Bowie]] {{-}} [[Bob Dylan]] {{-}} [[Hammersmith Odeon]] {{-}} [[My Aim Is True]] {{-}} [[Shipbuilding]] {{-}} [[Pills And Soap]] {{-}} [[Back Stabbers]] {{-}} [[Stand Down Margaret]] {{-}} [[Big Sister's Clothes]] {{-}} [[The World And His Wife]] {{-}} [[Oliver's Army]] {{-}} [[Don Watson]] {{-}} [[Ian Wright]] | |||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} | ||
Line 38: | Line 41: | ||
'''New Musical Express, July 9, 1983 | '''New Musical Express, July 9, 1983 | ||
---- | ---- | ||
[[Don Watson]] reviews Elvis Costello | [[Don Watson]] reviews Elvis Costello & [[The Attractions]] with [[The TKO Horns]], Tuesday, [[Concert 1983-06-28 London|June 28, 1983]], Dingwalls, London, England. | ||
---- | ---- | ||
A full page ad for "[[Single: Everyday I Write The Book| Everyday I Write The Book]]" | A full page ad for the [[Single: Everyday I Write The Book|single]] for "[[Single: Everyday I Write The Book|Everyday I Write The Book]]" runs on page [[:image:1983-07-09 New Musical Express page 19 advertisement.jpg|19]]. | ||
{{Bibliography images}} | {{Bibliography images}} | ||
[[image:1983-07-09 New Musical Express clipping 01.jpg| | [[image:1983-07-09 New Musical Express clipping 01.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
<br><small>Clipping.</small> | <br><small>Clipping.</small> | ||
[[image:1983-07-09 New Musical Express page 19 advertisement.jpg| | <small>Illustration by [[Ian Wright]].</small><br> | ||
[[image:1983-07-09 New Musical Express illustration.jpg|380px|border]] | |||
<small>Advertisement.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1983-07-09 New Musical Express page 19 advertisement.jpg|380px|border]] | |||
<small>Cover.</small><br> | |||
[[image:1983-07-09 New Musical Express cover.jpg|x120px|border]] | |||
{{Bibliography notes footer}} | {{Bibliography notes footer}} | ||
Line 64: | Line 70: | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME Wikipedia: NME] | *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME Wikipedia: NME] | ||
*[http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/n/nme.830709a.html elviscostello.info] | *[http://www.elviscostello.info/articles/n/nme.830709a.html elviscostello.info] | ||
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/littletriggers/941604758/ Flickr: littletriggers] | *[http://www.flickr.com/photos/littletriggers/941604758/ Flickr: littletriggers{{t}}][http://www.flickr.com/photos/littletriggers/940081535/ {{t}}] | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Musical Express 1983-07-09}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:New Musical Express 1983-07-09}} |